Cellular communication systems establish wireless communication links between user equipment (UE) and base stations (BS) to transmit and receive data. Cellular communication systems typically transmit data in a multipath environment. In a multipath environment, a transmitted signal will reflect off several surfaces before reaching the intended receiver. A multipath environment results in receiving a transmitted signal convolved with a channel impulse response of the environment the transmitted signal traveled through. A multipath environment will also cause a transmitted signal to take multiple paths to the intended receiver. Because some paths may be longer than others, multiple time-delayed signals will cause additive and subtractive interference when time-delayed versions of the transmitted signal are summed together.
Poor channel impulse response characteristics and multipath delay are problematic for multi-carrier modulation schemes because either may cause strong attenuation of subcarriers. Strongly attenuated subcarriers have low signal-to-noise ratios, and thus it is difficult or impossible to demodulate and decode the information contained on them. In such cases, link reliability and quality of service are negatively impacted.